


I Live to Tell

by disillusionist9



Series: Choose Dare [29]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen, Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Minor Character Death, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-08-12 09:54:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7930246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/disillusionist9/pseuds/disillusionist9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabble #29 of 100 | Why did Fleur return to England after the Tournament, and why does Bellatrix Lestrange haunt her dreams?</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Live to Tell

Fleur never told Bill why she'd returned to Britain. He'd never asked.

Something happened to her in the maze during the tournament. Fleur was not chosen by the Goblet of Fire lightly, but each person had their limit, and unbeknownst to the crowds of spectators, Fleur had reached hers.

The edges of her mind felt blurry for months after the tournament. Cedric's death chased her and the rest of the Beauxbatons girls back to France and what could be misconstrued as relative safety.

A letter from Gringotts arrived unsolicited after she sat her finals. Her grades were well above average, but they hadn't set any records or warranted the attention of the wizarding banking conglomerate. Fleur simply grinned wryly, recognizing that her status as one of the Triwizard Champions was influencing the letter, and not her Outstanding in Ancient Runes, then sent a cordial rejection to the summons.

Each apprenticeship she applied for, even those she'd sought before the Tournament, suddenly harbored no interest in her. She would walk into their shop or office and be politely turned away by most, coldly dismissed by others. However frustrating it was to be continuously directed elsewhere, Fleur was tenacious.

The second time Gringotts summoned her, it was not so subtle.

"Miss Delacour," croaked a voice at a table a few feet away from her.

With her large sun hat shading her eyes, Fleur glanced up to greet whomever had called her name. A swift Mesmer, an illegal Portkey, and two hours later, she awoke within an antechamber of Gringotts with an aching head and a primly dressed goblin watching her from a chair in the corner.

"Welcome to Gringotts, Miss Delacour." The voice matched the one in Étampes. "So polite. We found it incredibly hard to dissuade your home country to accpet your requests for apprenticeships. Once they understood you were exposed to an Unforgivable cast by a Death Eater...well, we did not find the same difficulties."

Fleur seethed, wishing she could locate her wand and her head would stop pounding. "Quel est le problème avec vous , relâchez -moi à la fois!"

The diminutive creature, who had kidnapped her and brought her back to a country with a raging madman recently resurrected from the dead, smiled at her rage. She wanted no part of it. There were no loyalties left for her here.

"You'll be much more useful here than in France," the goblin said as he stood from his chair, moving to pour himself a cup of tea. The china reminded her of items in her grandmother's house, kept in locked cabinets and on shelves, absolutely not for daily use. "As a brilliant Runes evaluator and strongly sensitive to Dark magic - don't interrupt me, girl! - your skills are invaluable to us. We have a Curse Breaker called back to England that has requested assistance with securing incoming Dark objects and live to tell the tale. You're a pureblood - I said to not interrupt! - and therefore safe from most of the charms. The Curse Breaker is as well."

Fleur found her voice. "If you theenk for one moment -"

"I do not think, Miss Delacour." With a ferocity and purpose to his step, he moved his face within an inch from hers, even with his height. "Your only hope to move past your nightmares and know true purpose is to be here."

"Vous ne pouvez pas me forcer à rester ici!"

"On the contrary. You'll be interested to know the particular brand of Imperius, cast on your friend Viktor Krum, we have on good authority was manipulated. You do recall he cast the Cruciatus on you? The Death Eater in question that changed the spell was Bellatrix Lestrange. You may recall her from the destruction she facilitated on your hometown, in Calais."

Fleur tried to protest, but his claim knocked the wind from her sails. In a vain attempt to remove the disturbing memories of the smell of her family's blood in the carpet, she shook her head in a halo of golden curls. Shouts of half-breeds and other slurs clouded her hearing.

The coarse voice of the goblin lost most of its ferocity in favor of a more empathetic tone. He backed away from her to offer one of the delicate cups of tea, speaking slowly and softly.

"You are allowed to leave, but please consider the circumstances. It was hardly my decision to collect you this way but you are a difficult witch to pin down."

"Eet haz kept me alive," she murmured, accepting the cup with the utmost care.

"Indeed it has."

Fleur learned the goblin's name was Griphook, and he knew many other unlikely hidden things even stranger than her personal history. Returning to Britain was the last thing on her mind when she left Hogwarts, but with such a purpose before her, and the opportunity to improve her English with a dashing Curse Breaker, she could not imagine leaving again.


End file.
